Ariel Moro's Story
by dreamcloud1
Summary: Ariel feels like an outsider in the neighbourhood of Sunset Valley. But when she meets the strange but captivating ghosts in the local graveyard, as well as the small 'vampire girl' Ruby, she embarks on an adventure she'll never forget...
1. Meeting With The Paranormal

Standing at the top of City Hall front steps, Ariel Moro watched the crowd shouting at the tops of their voices as they made their way towards her, crowding each other to get a better look. Just because she was called a 'demon', and pretty much everyone lived in fear of her didn't mean it had to come to this! It seemed almost ironic. Especially on the day of a protest against DNA experiments on...well, what the protest was for she didn't exactly know. Her appearance was part of her genetics, after all. If God had wanted everyone to be the same, they would all have looked like her. The thought brought a smile to her face, and she turned to watch the crowd in amusement.

"Get out of our city, mutant!" shouted a fat man in a pinstriped suit, waving his sign frantically. "You are not welcome here!"

Ariel bared her teeth in a smile, and watched the man take an automatic step back. She had just finished applying for a job at the local Hall, and had opened the door to...this. It wasn't her fault that she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Well, time to go now anyway. She edged along the stone steps, between the large pillars cemented at the front of the building. And along her way through the crowd with them shouting back at her, the keys to her car safe in her hand.

On the way back home, Ariel stared at herself in the rear view mirror. Her complexion was very pale, with long white fingers placed on the steering wheel. Her eyes gazed back at her, pearl white with black pupils, and her hair was practically non-existent. Ariel thought that her appearance might have been caused by a gene mutation. Maybe it really was something out of a science fiction magazine. When she had gone to school, she had kept her face covered and told everyone that this was because she was suffering from allergies from the sun. However, she didn't mind this, because her mother had always told her 'Everyone is beautiful in their own way.' She also knew that the citizens of Sunset Valley were scared of her. She didn't know the exact reason why, but she thought it was because of the way she looked. But Ariel didn't feel bitterness towards them. She only felt pity, because they had never given her a chance. She prized her solitude, as she had never felt comfortable around large groups of people. If they talked to her for half an hour, Ariel knew they would change their minds.

When she pulled up outside her house, the first thing she saw was the mailman outside delivering the post. Opening the door of the car, she got out. He heard the car door slam and jumped. Ariel sauntered over to the mailbox to sort through the rest of the post.

_I may as well be polite._ she thought. _Even though I know what his reaction will be._

"Hi there." she greeted him in her high voice. She turned her attention to the mailbox, but watched his reaction out of the corner of her eye.

All the mailman did was just stand and stare at her, his mouth slightly open in surprise. He took a few hesitant steps back, away from her.

"H..hi." he stammered in shock. Taking another step backwards, he turned and walked swiftly towards his car, parked out on the side of the road.

Ariel waited until he had roared away, clouds of smoke filling the air behind him, then burst into peals of laughter.

'Poor guy.' she thought, grinning. 'He wouldn't know how to be civil if it danced right in front of him! Priceless.'

She could hardly sit still until night fell. A part of her, mainly the small voice in the back of her head, wondered why she was going to go and explore the local catacombs in the middle of the local graveyard. Was she out of her mind? Ariel knew why, of course. Because she wanted to do something exciting, just this once. She loved challenge, and exploring new places. She had decided to go at night, to make her experience more thrilling. And of course, she may even find something interesting, hidden in the depths underground. However, there was the very small risk of running into one of the residents, who thought her weird enough already. They might think that she had taken a job as a grave digger, before running away in terror. Then announcing through the newspaper the next morning, that there was a madwoman on their hands. And of course, Ariel didn't want that.

Ariel wasn't terrified of the graveyard, as others in the neighbourhood were. She could see the cemetery now, faintly lit up by lanterns, which gave it a sort of mysterious glow. Through the creaky iron gates, she could see the long fingers of the dark tree branches, and the small pond out the front as shadows of the fish flickered across the surface.

'I wonder if the local stories are actually true.' Ariel thought, as she parked the car and walked through the gates of the cemetery. There were all sorts of stories that the graveyard was haunted. The adults told the children that mysterious apparitions lurked there the moment the sun set. Suddenly, she decided the greater the adventure, the bigger the excitement. Instead of exploring the catacombs, there wasn't really any harm in finding out whether the rumors were true or not, were there?

Ariel sat down to wait on a nearby stone seat. And waited. Hours seemed to tick by, but when she looked at her watch, it had only been fifteen minutes. As she looked around she saw that a slight grey-blue mist was slowly rising through the air, blown along by the cool breeze. It surrounded the gravestones, and gave the atmosphere an eerie feel.

Ariel decided that she had become intrigued by some of the graves, so she thought that she would have a look around. Rising carefully from the seat, she threaded her way through the overgrown clumps of grass, and over to the first stone she saw. She pulled the overgrown weeds away from the name, and bent down to read it.

"Jennie Clavell," Ariel read. 'The name is familiar, where have I heard it before?' she thought. Then she remembered something from the back of her memory, something that she had read in the newspaper a few months ago. A young woman named Jennie Clavell, and her older brother Ransom had been murdered, drowned in Jennie's own swimming pool. Their family was distraught, thinking that the two of them had been targeted on purpose. Yes, Ariel could easily see the symbol on both of the graves beside each other, showing a hand above water desperately waving for help.

The thought was chilling. In the end, of course, nobody came.

Ariel turned around suddenly. She had thought she heard someone behind her. The snap of a twig or the rustle of a leaf, maybe. However, there was nothing there. Maybe the rumors really were true. Or not. She didn't know. She suddenly felt weirdly tired. Walking a few steps backwards to the bench, she lay down on it, pulling the cream-coloured dress she was wearing around her for warmth. Going to explore the catacombs seemed to be the last thing on her mind at the moment, even though a few moments ago, it seemed to be the best idea in the world. In a moment, she was asleep.

Of course, Ariel didn't see Jennie Clavell's grave shake slightly, and a blue mist surround it. She didn't see an orange human-like shape moving quickly through the trees, as if the graveyard was on fire. She didn't see any more of the mysterious human-like shapes either, tinged purple, yellow and white. They disappeared silently into the air with a swirl of dust, before evaporating along with the wind.

Ariel's eyes snapped open. The dawn was breaking, but she couldn't shake away the strange images that filled her mind so vividly. In her dream, she was standing in the graveyard, but she wasn't alone. She standing alongside figures, that she knew were the ghosts. A curvy woman who looked about thirty, that was orange with an impression of flames burning her body, stood beside her looking away into the trees. One that was yellow, with lightning flashing up and down her body, illuminating her. An old man, that was slightly white and transparent, stood alongside another younger man that was opaque and this time, tinged purple.

The last ghost was that of a young woman, with blonde hair and water pooling down her body like blood. She slowly raised one hand and waved. Ariel had waved back, but then she realized who it was. From both the photo in the news and from what she had just witnessed earlier, when looking at the woman stared into Ariel's face and Ariel stared back.

With a jolt, she knew who it was.

She was staring into the face of Jennie Clavell.

Ariel wasn't even sure what the dream meant, if it did mean anything. She didn't think so, but then again, she also couldn't stop thinking about it. Maybe she should go back to the graveyard. This time later at night. For the rest of the day, she passed the time reading and doing anything that came into her mind that would keep her busy for a while. She would also think about the townspeople. Right now, she had better things to think about, without people calling her 'mutant'. A small girl and her foster mother had moved into the town recently. People said that the little girl was rather strange, but in a good way. They said it kindly, like when you have 'special needs.' And they certainly didn't compare her to Ariel out loud. The citizens who knew the family said it was a good thing that this little girl had lots of interests. Ariel wanted to meet her. She sounded different. That was one way, at least, that they seemed similar.

When the sky grew inky black and the first stars began to appear, Ariel felt she couldn't wait any longer. She went quietly out the front door, got into her car and sped away to the cemetery.

When she got there, just like last time, she sat on the cold stone seat to wait. But this time, she didn't fall asleep. Or have to wait too long. And this time, she knew that she would find out if the imaginative stories were really true or not. She didn't think so, but maybe–

Suddenly, an old man transparent, and tinged white stepped out from between the trees. He appeared to be bent over slightly; the hat perched on his head tilted forwards. Strands of grey hair escaped from underneath the hat brim. He looked like a kindly man, but Ariel wasn't so sure. Maybe ghosts expressed their emotions differently. His eyes flickered around the scenery before landing on Ariel. He smiled, and drifted over the dry ground towards her.

"Hello there. You came last night, didn't you? We all saw you there on the bench asleep."

Ariel was rather surprised. For a few seconds, she didn't know what to say.

"My name's Ariel. Ariel Moro. But wait, what do you mean, 'we'? I had a dream last night about being in here, but I wasn't even sure if that even meant anything or not! And by the way, who are you?"

The old man nodded at her. "Hello Ariel Moro. My name is Chester Landgraab. Nancy Landgraab, the founder of our town, and as you know her today, is my niece."

Of course, Ariel thought, everyone knew Nancy. She lived with her family up in a big house by the hill. Being the great-grand-daughter of the founder of the town, she was extremely rich. However now, Ariel was beginning to think that the ghosts had got the wrong person. What would she have to do with any of this? Out of her and everyone else in the world!

Especially as the townspeople didn't think much of her at all.

'The dream didn't mean anything at all. Just another excuse for craziness.' she thought unhappily.

Chester's voice interrupted Ariel's thoughts. "I can assure you, Ariel, that this may seem out of the ordinary. The citizens of this town are scared of anything that isn't what they like to call 'normal'. We have been waiting for someone like you to come, someone who can easily accept the existence of the paranormal. That is why, as we need you to help all of us."

As he spoke, the same ghosts from last night's dream edged from around the trees and formed a line in front of the two of them.

The old man walked slowly in front of the line of ghosts, indicating them with a wave of his hand. "This is Queenie Landgraab. She and I are cousins." The curvy woman who glowed orange like fire twinkled at Ariel and raised her hand in welcome. Ariel thought the resemblance between her and Nancy was very alike. "Big Steve Underwood, usually known as Steve." The younger man that was tinged purple nodded his head at her. "Annabelle Oinkslopes..." The lightning that was flashing quickly up and down the woman's body reminded Ariel of Christmas lights. "And of course, Jennie Clavell." The young woman who had drowned only a few months ago smiled, and swept her blonde hair behind her shoulders.

While Chester had been introducing each of the ghosts, Ariel had wondered why they were all tinged a different colour. All the other spirits she had seen on TV had been one colour; transparent. She had a sudden thought.

'Jennie Clavell drowned, so that's why she's blue, like water.' she realized. "And it looks like Queenie got caught in the middle of a fire...' The image made her shudder. "The lightning flashes on Annabelle's body are most likely electricity, so Annabelle was electrocuted, but I don't know about Steve or Chester.'

The latter, having finished the introductions, drifted over towards Ariel.

"Can I ask you something?" Ariel wondered. "You don't have to answer if you think I'm being rude." She didn't know about ghost etiquette, if there was such a thing.

Chester laughed. "Of course you can."

"How did you and Steve die? And why is your colour more... erm, normal? I've figured out how the rest of you died, but I'd just thought I would ask–"

"I died by starvation." Steve said with a shudder at the memory. "They locked me away in a dark room with no food at all. Can you imagine? Even though I tried to kick the door down. The next minute, I found that I was was chained to the wall! What kind of horrible person would put another human through this procedure? I ask you!"

"Right." Ariel said carefully. She had suddenly realized that the colour of Steve was sort of like the inside of the human body. "And what about you, Chester?"

"I just died of old age like anyone else." Chester said. "As you say, I'm 'normal' in my colour, as only the ghosts who have died of natural causes have an appearance such as mine. Some of the imaginations that mortals have, seems to me, shocking! Look at the type of ghosts they show on the television! Nearly all the same, and not with nearly as much personality as I." He twirled his hat proudly and replaced it back on his head.

Ariel had to suppress a giggle. To her, Chester seemed rather old-fashioned and endearing, but at the same time, terribly vain. Queenie's eyebrows were raised, and Steve looked as if he was enjoying a silent chuckle to himself.

"Anyway," Jennie continued, "when the dawn breaks, we can't stay in the sunlight for too long, otherwise we would evaporate into the air and disappear. That's why we always return to our graves, and wait until night falls, so we can come back here. Speak of the devil–" she gestured to the sky, where the bright light of the sun was filtering across the clouds. Ariel realized that she had been enjoying herself so much, she had forgotten the time.

Turning around to where the ghosts stood, she bid them farewell.

"I have to go now." she said. " But I'll come back here tonight." Looking around, she could see that the pond had turned pearl-coloured in the light of the morning. The silvery light of the dawn made the graveyard look almost magical.

"We'll all see you then." Annabelle replied. "Bye for now, Ariel."

As the first rays of sunshine broke through the clouds, the ghosts seemed to waver, hanging in the air. Then they seemed to explode silently into coloured mist, and swirled back into their graves. Their gravestones vibrated slightly, then all was still.


	2. Ruby's Secret

Ariel returned to her house around seven. All sorts of different thoughts rushed through her mind. Of the darkness of the graveyard, of the ghosts, and especially the way that they seemed to know something important that she didn't. She just didn't know what it was.

She thought about the next night, when she would, obviously, return to see them again. But she still didn't understand why it had to be her of all people. It was like she was a magnet, attracting the wrong kinds of things into her life. Or maybe she just didn't understand the full picture yet. However, what Ariel _had_ planned to do was to stick to her resolution to go and visit this little girl who had just moved into town.

'I wonder if she really is as strange as the locals think.' Ariel thought, pausing to pick up the newspaper in front of the mailbox.

She still didn't have a career, even though she had tried two dozen times before to get a job. Now she knew that it was because that not even the most high-powered companies in need of assistants would accept her. No matter what she was like on the outside, they refused to see the other side of her. As if she was the one with the problem. 'They're the ones with the problems,' she thought. But the good thing was that Ariel still had lots of money that her mother had left her in her will. Their family had been quite rich, thanks to the inheritance from long-ago ancestors. And, of course, she noted, proudly, nothing to do with any sort of genetic throwback.

When the sun had risen higher in the sky, Ariel decided it was time to go an visit the new family. She got into her car and drove towards the household, where they lived. It was rumoured around town that they were really poor, and couldn't afford a proper house. But then again, Ariel had had enough of rumours, whether they were really true or not. The scenery somehow passed in a blur, and before she knew it, she was at the house. It was small and cosy, looking like a wooden cube with windows, surrounded by a cheerful flower garden. A stone pathway led up towards the open front door, and Ariel saw that someone was coming down it. It was a small girl, walking cautiously towards her car, looking curious to see who the visitor was. Ariel stepped out of the car and made her way towards her. If the girl felt any sign of shock at Ariel's appearance, then she certainly didn't show it.

"Hi. I'm Ariel Moro. I thought that I'd just come and welcome your family to the neighborhood today." Ariel said, glancing at the small girl. Her skin was paler than the usual person, and her hair was light blonde, shining in the sunlight.

Was it just Ariel, or did something seem strange about the girl's appearance?

"Hello Ariel." the girl replied in a high voice, with a half-smile in her direction. "My name is Ruby Lite. You're not the first person to come and visit us. We've had so many people...but you seem interesting." Ruby's dark red eyes stared into Ariel's white ones, contemplating the figure who stood in front of her.

Ariel could only stare. She smiled at the girl, but inside, she was shocked. There was something else very weird about Ruby, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. And she knew that it wasn't just her appearance.

"Come in and you can meet my foster mother, Esmé." Ruby turned around and glided into the house. Ariel followed her.

There were cardboard boxes all over the kitchen floor and hallway. As Ariel entered the room, she saw a cheerful fire was blazing in the fireplace. There was hardly a spare inch of space that wasn't cluttered with leftover boxes or kitchen equipment. Ruby, who was seated on the table, indicated to Ariel that she should take a seat. Ariel edged around the chaos, to the only available chair in the room, at the table. A blonde woman with short hair was busy in the kitchen, unpacking. When she looked up and saw Ariel, her expression was shocked for a second, then turned to warmth.

"Hello there. My name is Esmé, and I'm Ruby's foster mother. Please excuse the mess, we only just moved in, and–"

"It's OK. I don't mind it. I didn't get a chance to introduce myself. I'm Ariel Moro." Ariel explained.

"Oh, by the way, it's nice to meet you, Ariel." Ruby said. Then she looked at Esmé, and grinned. When Ruby smiled, her face lit up, and she didn't look nearly as strange as Ariel thought she did when she first met her. "I'm allowed to sit on this table only because we're moving in, but Esmé doesn't know that yet." she whispered to Ariel.

"I most certainly do!" Esmé straightened up, and smiled at Ruby. Ariel and Ruby laughed.

"I think we're going to get along just fine, Ariel." Ruby said, and smiled at her with sharp white teeth.

Later on, Ariel headed for home. She and Ruby had made friends quickly while Esme buzzed around the house, going from one thing to the other and getting organized. Ruby said that she went to the local primary school, but for some reason, Ariel thought that she seemed advanced beyond her level of knowledge. She was excited when she thought that she had made at least one friend in the neighborhood, one that had something in common with her. But she was also puzzled. She didn't think that Ruby even seemed really human. Maybe, she thought, she was being too judgmental about the situation. But then again, Ruby did seem different to others.

However, she didn't have time to think about that yet. After she had eaten, to keep from looking like Steve, and slept for a while, she would go to the cemetery again. And Ariel would tell the ghosts about her new-found friend.

So, just like last time, she waited until the ghosts appeared, swirling into the air and forming into place. And, just like last time, they drifted through the dark trees and over to her. This time, she saw two new faces. The first was Ransom Clavell, who was Jennie's brother. The second was a little girl, called Opal Suarley. She wore her dark hair in pigtails, with a cheerful smile on her face. The two of them had drowned, as well. Ariel wondered if drowning was the most common cause of death. It had seemed like it, from the number of ghosts she had met who had died that way. Also, she thought, it would probably be the easiest way to kill someone...but she really didn't want to think about that.

Ariel told the ghosts about her meeting with Ruby, and how she thought there was something weird about her. Mostly, the fact that her appearance was very unusual, compared to normal people. Of course, Ariel didn't use the word 'unusual.' That would be hypocritical. But still, she wondered if she was jumping to conclusions, and was becoming just as bad as the townspeople. It seemed to be Opal who was the most interested. She didn't often hear exciting stories like this.

"Is she a ghost too?" she piped up, gazing at Ariel in awe.

"No." said Ariel, beginning to feel uneasy about how much she really didn't know about Ruby's life. "She's...well, I honestly don't know. She's your age."

_Or, at least she seems it. _she thought.

"Well." Opal declared. "you could bring her here one night and she and I could play some games together!"

"Maybe." Ariel replied, making a mental note to find out more about Ruby and her lifestyle.

Then Ariel decided to ask the ghosts about something that she had been wondering about since she had met them.

"I know this may sound weird, but...did you all get killed off by the same person? I know that you two did," she said, pointing at Jennie and Ransom, "but I don't know about the rest of you."

"Got it in one, Ariel." said Ransom. "Our deaths were caused by drowning, as you've noticed. By the same person." he added dramatically, for effect.

Steve let out a sigh. "I think that she already knows that, Ransom."

"But, even though we never did anything bad to him, he took it upon himself to end our lives for us! What has the world come to?"

"Yeah, and the bloke that did it was a right d–"

"Anyway." Chester added smoothly, as Queenie, Annabelle and Jennie hastily stifled their shrieks of laughter, and simultaneously interrupting Ransom and Steve's banter, "you will probably want to know how we all died. That story has had many interesting bits added to it, that make it all the more horrifying, but yet, all the more entrancing. They wanted to make sure that we all suffered. Even poor Opal here." He indicated the small ghost girl standing on his right.

Ariel couldn't believe what she was hearing. How could anyone hurt a little girl like Opal? But curiosity took the better of her. She wanted to find out more.

Eager to learn more, she found a dry spot on the grass and sat down. The rest of the company made a circle, shining in the darkness like colourful lanterns. Occasionally, Ariel would see some of the other ghosts in the graveyard, as they drifted past her, shining like lanterns in the darkness, and sometimes stopping to look at what was going on.

"On the second of April 1987," began Ransom, "Jennie invited me over to her place for dinner. After our meal, it was so warm outside that we decided to go for a swim in Jennie's pool. After a while of splashing around, we started to notice a man watching us, from the other side of the fence. Jennie lived in a neighbourhood where there were fences between the houses, however we knew her neighbours well. But this man sure wasn't one of them."

"What did he look like?" Ariel asked, curious.

"I choose not to remember much about it, today." Ransom replied. "I don't want to end up with bitter thoughts as to what might have been. But one thing I do remember; he had very dark eyes that were almost black. And another thing, when we looked back at the fence, he was gone. But the next time we saw him, he was hiding behind a tree, near the pool."

"We thought that something was wrong, so we decided to get out of the pool and phone the police. I got out first, but just as Jennie was getting out of the pool, the man appeared right behind her. He put his hand over her mouth so she couldn't scream. I tried to pull him as hard as I could away from her, but he seemed to be made of stone. No matter how hard I struggled, I couldn't get the better of him. Then–"

"Hey, you're stealing the spotlight! It's my turn." protested Jennie, cutting across Ransom and grinning. Then her expression became sober again, as she glanced around the circle of faces.

"After he had got hold of me, he shoved me under the water. I tried to kick him out of the way and come up for air, but he held me under. Ransom began to fight him, and at the same time, tried to pull me out of the water. But the man roughly shoved him aside, then pushed him into the pool.

'By this time, I hadn't the strength to fight any more. My vision was going black and my lungs were bursting for oxygen. It felt like I couldn't even remember who I was. Then, I was suddenly rising out of my body, watching the world grow smaller underneath me. Ransom was struggling in the water, trying to get back on land again. The man grabbed him and pushed him underwater, too. I tried to fly down and help him, but I couldn't. It's as if I was swimming in midair. Then Ransom sort of went limp, in the water. And that's how I found out that we were both dead."

Ariel sat there, shocked. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. But, she knew that however awful the consequences of the stories were, she wanted to know more.

"What about you?" she asked Annabelle, wondering if this story would be more terrible than the last.

Annabelle, sitting down beside her, took a deep breath and began to tell her story.

"This was on the 10th August, 1994. In my past life, I was a repair specialist. I used to go to people's houses and fix their kitchen appliances or whatever. However, I wanted a change. To extend my business, and so decided to move on from casual work. One day after I had started, one of my clients wanted a new voltage box installed, which contains all the lights and electrics, you know. He was a man who had just moved into town, saying that he wanted to 'get away from it all', and start afresh. I went to his house to see what I could do for him. To install what I needed to, I had to be careful, because voltage boxes are very difficult and dangerous to handle. So I set to work."

Ariel could see the faint sparks of electricity flashing up and down her body.

"At one point, I sensed him coming up behind me. I wondered what he wanted from me, so, without turning round to speak to him, responded, "Keep back, this is dangerous."

'He said, "Oh, I know. It all takes patience, and concentration. Good concentration."

'I then turned around, and he slammed me straight against the electricity box. Sparks flew everywhere and one of the wires caught fire. I struggled against his strong hold, and screamed at him to let me go. But of course, he didn't. I don't know how on earth he managed to survive that as well, but I do remember feeling great tremors roll down my body from the electricity. A snapping crackling sound, which was the whole voltage box breaking and bursting into flame. Not the best sound for the last thing you hear before you die..."

Annabelle's voice trailed away into nothing. There was a silence which seemed to stretch on for ages, as everyone around Ariel contemplated the situation.

"My turn." announced Queenie Landgraab, breaking the silence. "The sad and unfortunate tale of my death, that will make you all weep with sorrow, and shudder with horror."

Ariel and the others laughed, but listened earnestly.

"May the 25th, 1982. One of my good friends was having a dinner party, and invited me and some of our other friends. I was standing at the stove, cooking a roast dish for that night, when there was a knock on the door. The stove had a double-element, very powerful. I didn't like to leave the heat up too high. Otherwise I would have contributed to my own death, and that really would have been a shame."

Everyone laughed again.

"Anyway, before I so rudely interrupted myself, I had said that there was a knock on the door, so I went to see who it was. A man was standing there on the doorstep. I hadn't seen him around before, so I asked him to come in. Maybe he was new to the neighbourhood. He did so, walking past me into the kitchen where the roast was still cooking. For some reason which I couldn't fathom, he was staring at the oven, as if he could visualize what was inside it. And of course, I didn't notice that he had turned the heat up.

'He then looked at me strangely, as if he was deciding to roast me on a skewer, or just let me burn. I guess now that the second option was the easiest. I remember that. I asked him, "Why are you looking at me like that? Is there something I can do for you?"

"Yes, there is. It would be doing mainly me, a big favour. You won't actually be ready for another twenty minutes...but I think I can handle that."

'I didn't like the way he said that. A chill began creeping up my spine, and my senses immediately began to think that something was wrong. I considered running for it, but there wasn't anywhere to run to. He would catch up with me in no time.

'Then, horrified, I saw a tiny flame leap inside the oven door, before the whole oven burst into flames. I tried to run but he was too quick for me. He got me, even though I tried to fight my way away from him, and pushed me into the fire..."

Ariel and the others listened in a horrified silence. Opal's eyes were as round as coins.

"I won't make you listen to the rest." Queenie said quietly. "The last thing I saw though, was him running away from me into the hallway. I think he escaped by smashing a window and jumping out. The neighbors dialed the fire department when they saw smoke and flames rising from where the kitchen was. But, they didn't see someone running away from the house. When the firefighters came, all they saw was the dead, charred body of a young woman, and the smoking wreck which had been my kitchen. The rest, as they say, is history."

Dialing Ruby's number on her phone, Ariel waited for someone to pick up the phone. While she waited, listening to it ring, she reflected on the things that the ghosts had told her. She wondered if she should tell Ruby about it, then decided not to. Or maybe, she decided, she would take the secret with her to the grave. No pun intended.

Much to Ariel's surprise, Ruby agreed quite happily to her suggestion to go to the cemetery later that afternoon. "What do you want to do there?" Ruby wondered. "It's not like we're going to steal the corpses, is it? Well, you're not, are you?"

"Of course not!" Ariel laughed. "I just want to know about you. And I bet you want to know about me, too." Ariel replied. "It's just that we seem, you know, similar."

"Of course we do." Ruby stated. "And sure, I'll see you in the graveyard at about...three o'clock?"

The graveyard looked very different in the daylight. Much less menacing and shadowy. Ariel walked among the graves, trying to imagine the sort of lives those people may have led. There was Opal's grave, there was Steve's. And Queenie's grave was over there with Chester's, in a shadowy corner. All who had died and been placed here would have had families, friends, a future. They would have had hopes and dreams. Someone to take their lives away from them seemed unthinkable. but it had been done. And this sort of thing was happening all over the world. Ariel wondered if the ghosts were happy here, in the graveyard. They looked like they were, but maybe they felt like they didn't have a proper home. Nowhere they could go when they needed to.

"So what did you want to talk about?" Ariel jumped, then saw Ruby standing behind her. Her white blonde hair was glinting in the sunlight. She thought it odd how Ruby seemed to arrive here so quickly.

Together they went and sat down on the same bench that Ariel usually sat on while waiting for the ghosts to arrive.

"So, here we are, in the local graveyard." Ruby said lightly, tossing a handful of leaves onto the ground. "It's very...interesting."

"Well, yes. I just wanted to ask you about your life. I mean..." Ariel stopped. There were many questions she wanted to ask, but she wasn't sure how to ask them. And would Ruby think that she was being too inquisitive?

" I just wanted to know why people are saying you're were different. I mean, 'different' as in a good way, and I didn't listen to them. They say things about me, too, which you've probably heard about, but–"

"I know." Ruby said. "Honestly, I don't mind. We're alike in that respect, with the whole genetic thing gone wrong. I can run faster, I even have to hunt when I get hungry–"

"Wait." Ariel said slowly. "_What_ did you just say?"

Ruby cut off her sentence and looked guilty, as if she had been caught out with a secret that she wasn't supposed to share.

"Erm,...Ariel," she said, as if hesitant, "there's something I think you should know. I've had to deal with it my whole life without telling anyone. But since I've met you, we're both in the same boat. So It's only right that I should say."

Ariel watched Ruby tearing small grass blades into even smaller shreds. She knew that there was something that Ruby was trying to say, but she wasn't sure how to put it.

She then locked her gaze on Ariel's, but not before she said the words that she knew, would decide her future for her in Sunset Valley.

"I'm a vampire." Ruby said quietly. "I have been for a while, and Esmé doesn't even know about it..."


	3. Chess And Other Important Matters

"So, you have just told me in no uncertain terms, that you're a vampire." Ariel stated. "And Esme doesn't know about it."

"Yeah." Ruby said. "I don't really need to sleep at all. Sometimes I do, but only for a few hours. The rest of the time, I pretend to go to sleep. Esme only checks on me once, so she doesn't know. Then I just go and run around outside. I go hunting as well, cause I get hungry."

Ariel listened in a state of shock and awe. She wasn't sure that vampires even lived here, let alone exist. Now here she was, sitting in the local cemetery, and talking to one. She still couldn't believe it.

"Um, what do you hunt?" Ariel wondered, not knowing what she might hear, and not knowing if she wanted to, either.

"Just animals like cows, and sheep." Ruby said matter-of-factly. "Sometimes I even catch fish, but they don't taste as good. And I don't go hunting _every_ night. Just when I feel...thirsty."

Ariel didn't know what to say. Ruby looked at her carefully.

"Don't worry. I don't have to avoid the sun, and I don't have supernatural powers, either. That's all superstitious nonsense. And no, I don't own a coffin instead of a bed." Ruby's face lit up and she began to laugh, which made Ariel crack up at the very thought.

"I have to tell you something too." Ariel said, having managed to control her laughter. "I don't know if you've heard the whole story about me and the townspeople. They just don't like me for who I am. But I don't really mind, as it's really their fault for not wanting to come and talk to me in the first place. And, this may sound weird, but," She hesitated, looking for the right way to put it. "I've been coming here every night and making friends with the ghosts in the–"

"The _ghosts?_" Ruby whispered, stunned. "Ariel, are you _insane?_"

"They said that they've been waiting for someone like me for a long time. I don't know where it's heading, but I think that they want me to help find the person that killed them. By drowning, starvation, fires and, erm, major electric shocks. Except for Chester, who died of old age. I'm sure they would let you help us, too, since you seem different to other people."

"What do you mean, I could help you? How did they die?" asked Ruby, her eyes huge.

"Well, Jennie and her brother Ransom Clavell died, because..."

Ariel told Ruby what the ghosts had told her. Ruby listened hard, exclaiming in awe with every story.

"Wow." Ruby grinned, after Ariel had finished telling the story. "I want to find this dodgy man with you! Can you take me one night to visit the ghosts? I'll sneak out without Esme knowing, I do it all the time."

_She'll stop at nothing to get what she wants. _Ariel thought. Then Ruby stood up, as if she had thought of something that she liked the idea of.

"Now we can both be 'strange' together. Want a game of tag, oh fearless leader?"

Ariel laughed. And getting to her feet, she chased her friend all around the graveyard, even though she knew that she could never catch her.

When she came back to the cemetery that night, she was greeted with hugs from Annabelle, Jennie and Queenie. Hugging a ghost felt weird, Ariel thought. It was basically thin air, except there was the shape of a person standing in front of her. Ransom, Chester, Opal and Steve were there too. Ariel thought that she would waste no time filling them in on what Ruby had told her this afternoon. She had a faint suspicion that a couple of them had been listening at the time. Steve and Chester looked decidedly guilty.

"So your friend Ruby is a vampire!" said Opal, full of wonder. "I want to be one too!"

"Maybe you will." said Annabelle playfully, tickling Opal so that she squealed and creased up laughing.

Then Ariel thought of something. "I've gathered that you want me to help find the man that killed you all." Seeing Jennie roll her eyes at the remark, she pressed on. "Oh, come on! It wasn't that hard to work out, otherwise you wouldn't have told me all those repulsive stories."

"Damn straight." Jennie said, and the others nodded their approval.

"But here's the catch. What will we do with the man who did it then, after we actually know he did it?" asked Ariel. "And why didn't the police find him out in the first place? Otherwise we wouldn't all be in this mess."

"Because," remarked Chester indignantly, straightening up, "those idiotic police we had, back in the 80's to about 1995, were so useless that they didn't know their blueprints from their fingerprints! There were no visible traces of the murderer left on the scene, so they thought, well, we have better things to do then fight losing battles! They were up-themselves pricks, all right!"

"And how are we going to actually track down the killer?" asked Ariel.

"Well..." said Queenie slowly, "you could try tracking him down on the computer. Go through all his family records, maybe look at some old newspapers? The Landgraabs have lots of photos of me and Chester." she added, a little sadly.

"Maybe." Ariel said vaguely. "But if I come here every night, and people start noticing, it's going to look too suspicious. They might think that I'm mixed up in some shady business, or something. I need a way to pass on information to you all without–" Then suddenly, she had a flash of inspiration.

She leaned over to Annabelle and whispered in her ear. Annabelle looked shocked at first, but then she started giggling madly. The other ghosts looked at the two of them as if they were mad.

"Oh _Ariel!" _Annabelle gasped, trying to hold back her giggles. "You are terrible! How could you _ever_ think of something like that? And what on earth will you do if someone finds out?"

"What is the idea?" asked Ransom, waiting to hear Ariel's plan.

"Tell me!" demanded Queenie.

So Ariel told them all her idea.

The ghosts were silent for a few seconds, then burst into laughter. Even Opal understood what was so funny, and began to giggle along with them.

"I can't believe you'd do something as crazy as that!" Steve Underwood told her, grinning. Even Chester, old-fashioned as he sometimes was, seemed to approve of the plan.

Ariel felt elated that she had managed to come up with a good idea, for once. Turning around to face her companions, she replied, "Well, you only live life once. For me, anyway."

In early morning, Ariel returned to her house, her car full for once, rather than her solitary form in the driver's seat. She imagined what the locals would say if they knew she was planning to build a temporary tomb round the back of her house. It was only for a while, one night or more couldn't hurt. And she would return the graves...eventually. Ariel smiled wickedly, then started giggling madly at the thought.

She managed to lug the certain graves she had chosen out of the car boot, and placed them behind some trees, concealing then from passers-by.

For the rest of the day, she fell onto her bed and slept. Since she had had so little sleep, thanks to the past few exciting nights at the cemetery, she was catching up on it.

After ten solid hours of sleep, Ariel woke up feeling better. In other words, ready to start her search for the killer. She took a shower first, and reheated a leftover plate of macaroni cheese. While she ate, she contemplated on where she would find the details. She didn't know what his name was, but she hoped that she would find it somewhere on the Sunset Valley website, under the historical events page.

She spent most of the day looking on the Internet for anything that would help lead her to the killer. However, she couldn't find anything apart from a small piece about Queenie and her family:

'_The founder family of the town, the residents of Sunset Valley were shocked when Queenie Landgraab was found, burned to death, in her home kitchen. She was the mother of two-year old Nancy, wife of Malcolm Landgraab II.'_

Ariel switched off the computer, refusing to give up. She then began to wonder what would happen that night, whether it would lead to anything, or not.

When night fell, Ariel waited for the ghosts to appear. It wasn't until 9:30 that she thought she saw something outside. Quickly looking out the window, she saw a blue mist form into a half-solid shape.

Ariel rushed outside and saw Ransom standing there, under the trees. He waved, and drifted over to her.

"So you _did _get away with it after all!" Ransom exclaimed. "And here was me thinking that the next time I saw open air, we would be either in jail or the science lab! Have you found anything so far?"

"No." Ariel said, disappointedly. "Not a single thing."

"Maybe you're just looking in the wrong place." Ransom suggested kindly.

Before she could say anything, there was another swirl of dust and Chester appeared.

"Do you have any idea where a person such as I could find some sort of paper to read? One that involves the weekly crossword, as I do love puzzles." Chester glanced around, and saw Ransom and Ariel staring at him. "Or, to be more helpful, you could try looking in the Landgraab's house, in the kitchen where Queenie died. Or old newspaper clippings."

Ariel could have kicked herself. Of course! Why hadn't she thought of that herself? Speaking of Queenie, where was she? Where were any of the others?

"As I know you may be wondering, the others are not yet as keen to venture out as Ransom and I are. They're very wary of the world outside the graveyard." Chester thought aloud. Ariel nodded.

"Hey Ariel," Ransom began. "I haven't had a good sleep in a while. Could I crash on a sofa or something inside?"

"Sure." Ariel said. "There are beds upstairs, help yourself." Now she actually knew that ghosts needed sleep. She imagined that they wouldn't have very comfortable beds when inside their graves. "There's plenty of food here, and decent...facilities."

"Thanks." Ransom beamed at the thought of getting a good sleep at last, then disappeared in a rush of dust.

"Anyway." Chester continued, "You could ask the Landgraab family that live here now about Queenie. She was killed in a fire, so they would have some knowledge about that."

"I'll ask them tomorrow." Ariel decided she'd also look through old newspaper clippings as well. As if she was some sort of detective, ready to solve her first mystery. She had to admit she liked the sound of that.

"Now we can't really find out anything more until tomorrow, so why don't we play some sort of game? How about chess?"

Ariel stared at him. "Chester, from what I've gathered, most people don't even play chess any more."

"That's not true." Chester argued. "_Some_ people still do. Including me. Do you know I was Sunset Valley Chess Champion for five years running? I do like to play, even though I'm no longer human, you know."

"Of course." Ariel sighed. "Great. So let's play chess."

The rest of the night was spent playing chess with Chester. Ransom came down once or twice to provide company. As Chester crowed over his many victories, Ariel smiled. She didn't care. There was more to worry about, such as what she would do tomorrow, and how to find out about Queenie.

Dawn was breaking before they finished their game. Ariel bade goodbye to Chester and Ransom and watched them turn into dust and vanish.

In the late morning, Ariel decided to go and visit Nancy Landgraab, and find out more about Queenie. Her family were the founders of the town, after all. She imagined that the news would be circulating around the town for two weeks straight.

When she arrived at the Landgraab's house, she was astounded. The house was at least three levels high, with a huge garden outside, full of colourful flowers. Through the slats of a wooden fence, Ariel spotted a large pool, the water shining in the sunlight. It reminded her fleetingly of Jennie and Ransom.

She traipsed up the front stone steps, and rang the doorbell. From behind the door, she heard the sound of voices, and the scurrying of feet. Then the door swung forwards and there stood Nancy, blinking in the bright light of the morning.

Her blonde hair was piled on top of her head, secured with a white headband. The pink and white striped blazer and light blue skirt she wore made Ariel sure that she had inherited her fashion sense from her mother.

"Nancy? My name is Ariel Moro and I've come to ask you about something."

Nancy Landgraab simply gaped. Deciding that Ariel was not a figment of her imagination, she replied, "Please come in, Ariel. Delighted to meet you."

Ariel was invited into Nancy's large kitchen. Pots and pans lined the shelves, and the kitchen was spotlessly clean. Light filtered in through the windows, washing the floor with sunlight. She took a seat at one of the wooden dining chairs and imagined sitting down here every day, to eat meals. Like Queenie had done, years ago. Ariel imagined life when she had lived here, her mind flashing backwards to 1980. For a second, her mind flashed backwards. She saw Queenie, busy in the kitchen. She was laughing at baby Nancy, who was trying to climb up her leg. Her face was alight with happiness as she lovingly glanced down at her two-year old daughter. Yes, she thought, Queenie must have been very happy here.

"Do you want tea, Ariel?" Nancy asked, pulling Ariel out of her reverie. "Or can I get you anything to eat?"

"No thanks. I'm not stopping for very long." Ariel replied

When Nancy had sat down at the dining table, she gazed at Ariel. She wondered what someone like Ariel would want with her, of all people. Well, she was rich, for one thing. But she didn't think that Ariel would be after her money; the idea seemed absurd. Nancy regarded the young woman with curiosity.

"What do you want to know, Ariel? This would probably be the first time I've ever had someone asking for something else other than money."

"Oh." Ariel didn't know how to respond. The seconds ticked by as Nancy Landgraab and Ariel Moro stared at each other.

_Well, this is awkward, _the small voice in Ariel's head added, along with the confusion of thoughts rushing through her mind. She decided to bite the bullet.

"Can you please tell me about...well, I know this may be very hard for you to talk about, and you don't have to answer any of my questions, not if you don't want to. But I was wondering, can you tell me about your mother? Queenie Landgraab?"

Nancy was silent for a moment, as if she was reminiscing on memories of old times. Ariel watched her, wondering what anyone else would say in this situation.

"Sorry." Ariel said quickly. "I was just–"

"You didn't offend me, or anything." Nancy said, smiling at her. "I'll tell you about Queenie now."

'Queenie, as you know, was my mother. She was excellent at doing lots of things, but her speciality was cooking. She made wonderful apple pies and her pastry was perfection, but her roasts were absolutely fantastic."

"I've heard about that before." Ariel muttered, picturing what Steve would say. Especially now, him most likely being overwhelmed with thoughts of food.

"She bought me up very well, without spoiling me even though we were and still are very rich. I don't mean to flaunt my lifestyle, of course. Her, my father Malcolm the Second, and I loved each other very much. By the time she died, I was married to Geoffery, with my son Malcolm on the way. Named after his father, you know. The news was absolutely devastating. I couldn't believe it. I spent a whole week crying."

"How did she die?' Ariel asked innocently. She didn't want to appear too knowledgeable, lest Nancy thought that she was up to something.

"She was killed in a fire." Nancy said, wiping her eyes. "The fire was out of control. While she was cooking, a flame jumped out of place and set the kitchen alight. That was what the police said, at any rate. And I quote, "Must have accidentally set the kitchen on fire." Geoffery and I both argued our case, we both knew she wouldn't do something like that. Which led us to the only other option, she must have been murdered." Nancy sniffed.

"Do you not know who killed her?" Ariel wondered.

"Not exactly, but there is one person who I have thought suspicious of killing her. And Jennie, Ransom and the others. The Clavells are very good friends of ours. And that sad, sad story about that little girl, Opal. Horrible!"

"What story about Opal? I haven't heard it." she replied. At the same time, she wondered, did she really want to hear it?

"I don't know the full story," Nancy said, "but she was splashing around in her pool at home, as happy as anything, when she vanished. Opal's parents were terribly worried, and spent days on end searching for her. Her body was later found floating in the river, near to her house."

"That's horrible." Ariel whispered, thinking about the small girl. Opal seemed so happy, but yet, her story was so sad. A small flicker of anger rose inside her. When she found the killer, she couldn't wait to give them a piece of her mind. Which wasn't going to be pretty at all, if she could help it.

"Who do you think killed her?" Ariel asked, tuning her thoughts back to Nancy.

"I have never really trusted Hector Blaine." Nancy began. "He was a so-called 'family friend', one of Geoffery's friends from way back. But as far as I know, the two of them haven't spoken to each other since school days. I don't think Geoffery liked him much."

"Go on." Ariel probed. She could hardly sit still with excitement. Was this finally what the ghosts had been waiting for?

"He was invited to a house party, once. I was only in my late teens at the time, but I remember it very well. He hardly talked to anyone, and just watched what was happening around him. After the party, he disappeared without so much as a goodbye. I'd like to think he left Sunset Valley for a while, then came back again. I haven't seen him for ages." With that, Nancy opened her bag and pulled out her wallet. "I do have a couple of photos here of her." she said, and began to lay them out on the table.

"You can have a good look at them, Ariel." Nancy told her, a sad smile on her face.

Ariel studied the photos on the table. One of them was of her standing outside the house, the flowers The younger Queenie looked radiantly happy, the sun shining through her blonde hair. However, there was something that Ariel noticed. The Queenie both in the photo and as a ghost, and Nancy sitting at the table looked almost identical. Same blonde hair, eyes, same smile. Not really a difference. Except for the fact that–

"Queenie's changed a bit." Ariel thought aloud. "She looked different when I saw her last..."

"What?" Nancy stared at Ariel.

Ariel realized what she'd said, and put a hand over her mouth. _Maybe,_ she thought,_ I had better get out of here quickly, otherwise Nancy will probably think I'm some sort of deranged nutcase._

"Well Nancy, thank you very much for telling me what I wanted to know." Ariel quickly got up from the table and began to move towards the door, when she caught sight of something out of the corner of her eye. She stopped, happening to catch sight of Nancy's double element stove.

Just one like Queenie had described.

A chill ran down her spine. Would Hector Blain somehow accidentally-on-purpose do the same thing to Nancy, if he really was the killer? He would probably do the same thing to anyone who was rich, and from what she had heard, she wouldn't doubt that he would do anything to get his hands on a bit of money. She would get home as quickly as possible and ring Ruby. Then she would wait until the others appeared and tell them what she had learned from Nancy. Through the faint pounding in her head, she heard Nancy's startled voice:

"Ariel...what do you mean, Queenie's changed a bit? What's going on?"

"Well," Ariel stated, "it's just that..." She really didn't know how to explain it, or even if she should.

"And why did you want to know all about her in the first place, anyway?" Nancy stared, puzzled in her direction.

"I think you might have something to do with this, whether I like it or not."

"_Ariel?"_

**_So, happening next chapter: Ariel, Ruby and the others make a shocking discovery when Ruby finds something accidentally-on-purpose of Hector's... what do you think it is? And Nancy may be on the edge of finding out what they're doing... dun dun dun..._**


	4. The Mausoleum Society

Ariel decided she would go over to Ruby's place instead. It would be easier to tell her what had happened at Nancy's place. She had made her exit as fast as she could, hoping like anything that Nancy wouldn't tell anyone else about their meeting. She had watched Ariel as she left the house, a puzzled frown on her face. And now,Ariel hoped that Esme didn't know what was going on. There were more important things than awkward explanations.

When Ruby answered the door, she nearly fell over with excitement. "Ariel! You're to stay a night with us, Esme said so and I've got it all sorted. Will you _please _take me to the cemetery at night to meet all your ghost friends?"

Ariel pretended to consider. "Well...all right, then. I suppose."

"Yay!" Ruby squealed, clapping her hands with delight. "And Esme won't know, we'll just pretend to go to sleep, then we'll sneak out and–" Ruby suddenly thought of something, her eyes widening. "Oh! What happened at Nancy's place?"

Taking a seat on the sofa in Ruby's living room, Ariel began to tell everything. How the photo of Queenie looked exactly like Nancy, thought she quickly skipped over that bit. About Nancy's stove. And how Nancy thought the prime suspect was Hector Baine.

"And Queenie was Nancy's _mother_!" said Ruby in wonder. "Wow. She still looks really young! Does Hector Baine still live in the neighborhood?"

"Nancy said that he had left for a while, then came back again." said Ariel. "Unless he changed his name...but I don't think so. Nobody knew that he committed the murder, so why should he bother?"

"Great." Ruby exclaimed. "Then we can go tonight, and tell the ghosts about–" Then she stopped, and listened.

"Ariel! Esmé's coming, so talk about something unimportant for no reason!" she hissed, before beginning to chatter away to her. As if nothing seemed wrong at all.

When the two saw that Esmé had fallen asleep, Ariel and Ruby sneaked out the front door, and ran around the side of the house towards Ariel's car. Thankfully for them, the purr of the engine wasn't loud enough to wake anyone in the street. Ariel knew the nosy neighbours would most likely ring and moan about trouble–making in the middle of the night.

When Ruby and Ariel arrived at the graveyard, Ruby bounded over to Ariel's stone seat.

"So this is the seat you sit on every night, waiting for your ghost friends." she remarked.

"I've told them about you, and they're just dying to meet you." Ariel replied. "No pun intended, of course. And...I've also told them you're a vampire."

"That's OK." Ruby shrugged. "They aren't going to go telling anyone now, are they?"

"No, of course we aren't." came Ransom's voice from behind the seat. "Unless you decide to take up residence with us, Esmé _might_ notice that you've gone missing."

Ariel turned around and laughed.

The shadowy shapes of the ghosts were standing alongside Ransom. Ruby stared at the sight before her, her eyes growing bigger.

"Ruby, here are all my 'ghost friends', as you say." Ariel introduced them all, all the time watching Ruby's reaction.

"So you're the vampire girl." Opal said, taking a few steps in Ruby's direction, fascinated. "Cool. Can you run fast?"

Ruby smiled. "Yeah, I am a vampire, and I sure as anything can run fast. Are you the ghost girl?"

The company laughed, the ghosts' coloured figures shining brightly, like disco lights. Then Ruby remembered something.

"Ariel, tell them why we're here. And not just because of me. You guys are going to want to hear _this," _Ruby remarked, pulling her white blonde hair out of her face.

The ghosts listened intently to Ariel's story. Especially Queenie and Chester.

"So, Nancy and you think that a man called Hector Baine is likely the despicable killer of the society." Jennie stated. "Have any of you heard his name somewhere before?"

"Apart from my electricity client lists, no." Annabelle said, shaking her head.

"Well, soon we're going to put on a nice little performance to find out what kind of person Hector Baine is." Ariel thought aloud. "If he _is_ the killer, what are we going to do with him afterwards? Will we call the police and have him sentenced for community service?"

"Why not kill him?' enquired Ruby, innocently. "That's what he did to the ghosts!"

Opal looked at her in horror.

"What?" asked Ruby innocently. "I kill things all the time when I go hunting at night. It's the way I live."

"Well, I have an idea." said Chester. "Queenie and I are going to get Nancy's family evacuated, just in case Hector decides to go for them next. And he probably will, considering he'll think something's up. Put an idea into their heads that they need a holiday for two weeks."

Queenie nodded. "We need to make sure the Landgrabbs are safe. They founded the land. Also they are a part of our family."

"I have an idea, too." Steve announced. "About what we do once we've found Hector Baine."

Ariel, Ruby and all the ghosts listened intently to Steve's plan.

"First, Ruby goes to visit his house sometime in the middle of the day. Say that you're a junior member of the mausoleum society, and would like him to agree to take part in an interview–"

"The date of which is yet to be determined." Jennie added.

"–and say that you'll ask him a few introduction questions. The more in-depth questions we ask him about these events, the more uncomfortable he'll feel."

"I get what you're saying." Annabelle said slowly. "You're asking from a fake interview from him, and the more uneasy he gets, the better. And that's how we'll know if it's him or not."

"Got it in one, Annabelle." Steve grinned. "I see no reason to trouble him with the other unnecessary bits of information."

Everyone erupted into peals of laughter.

"Oh, Ruby, don't forget to sound like you're selling cookies for Girl Guides. Think Goody-Two Shoes." Queenie smiled, although she imagined that this would be a rather hard thing for Ruby to do.

And just as dawn was beginning to creep up onto the horizon, the ghosts waved and vanished from sight, spiraling coloured dust up into the air.

Ariel and Ruby returned to Ruby's house just before Esmé got out of bed. Ruby darted away to her room before Esmé could guess they had been out all night. Ariel made her way quickly into the kitchen, and left a note explaining she had gone back home, and to thank Esmé for having her sleep over. "I slept like a log the whole night.' she wrote, to increase the irony for Ruby.

Later in the evening, she quickly called Ruby.

"I think we should carry out the first part of Steve's plan tomorrow." Ariel said. "The sooner, the better."

"Tomorrow!" Ruby gasped. "Are you serious? Ariel, if we're going to do this properly, then we need a plan! We can't just walk up to Hector's house randomly in the middle of the day! "

"We already have a plan." Ariel reminded her. "All we need to do is follow Steve's plan and then we'll be fine. And besides, it's Saturday tomorrow."

"All right." Ruby agreed, though she sounded rather reluctant. "I really don't want to have to lie to Esmé any more than I have to, but I know I do."

"You'll be fine." Ariel reassured her. "And the sooner we get Hector Baine out of the way, the happier we'll be."

There was silence.

Then...

"Well, I didn't practice my best sweet facial expressions in the bathroom mirror for nothing!"

Hidden in her car the next day, Ariel had a clear view of Ruby as she walked up the front stone pathway to Hector's house. They had found the address earlier, by asking people that lived in the neighbourhood. As far as Ariel found out, nobody knew anything of Hector's previous crimes, or true identity. Ruby was wearing what she liked to call 'fancy dress' and had even polished her shoes. And was ever carrying a clipboard, with pen attached. After all, she wanted to make sure Steve's plan was a success.

Ruby rang the doorbell, crossing her fingers and hoping Hector was home. She was right. Heavy footsteps were heard marching towards the door, as if the steps actually small rocks falling onto the carpeted floor. Then the door opened, and Ruby took her first look at Hector Baine.

He was slightly tan, brown hair cut short and seeming to have a will of its own. His expression slightly puzzled, he would have looked just like an ordinary man to anyone else with his green sweater and navy corduroy trousers. But his eyes were just as Ransom had described them. Dark grey, they didn't match his bewildered expression. Instead, they made Ruby think of dark, empty tunnels.

However, Hector was immediately taken aback by this charming little girl, with her polished shoes, like she had a heart of gold. Ruby flashed a beaming smile at him, praying that the time spent 'making faces' in the bathroom mirror had paid off. She decided that they had, making her look as if she had just been given a giant bag of candyfloss.

"Are you Hector Baine?" Ruby asked in her sweetest voice.

"Yes, I am." said Hector, smiling down at her. "Have you come to sell for Girl Guides? Because I am very charitable with my money, and will help you out."

This was a downright lie, of course.

"No actually, I've come from the mausoleum society." remarked Ruby. "I was wondering if you'd like to do an with our group, to help the cause of premature deaths in the neighborhood, due to drownings, fires, starvation and major electric shocks."

"Well, erm..." Hector stuttered, "I'd...I'd be very honoured to help, or course, but..."

Ruby narrowed her eyes slightly. She could see through him as easily as if he were transparent, like Chester.

Finally, Hector found the courage to speak. "I would be delighted to help you."

"Thank you so much. I can't stay long, but first I will have to ask you some quick questions relating to the topic. First," she began, not pausing for him to either object or protest, "do you think that the cause of such events as premature deaths really happened by accident? What's your view?" Ruby felt as if she was a famous interviewer, on breakfast television, being watched by millions. For a moment, she wished that were true.

"Erm, well maybe these people were just simply careless, you know." Hector's face seemed to give nothing away...except for the tiny flicker that was present in his eyes for a nanosecond. But Ruby saw it, of course.

"Right." She pretended to write something down on the clipboard. "And secondly, why do you think this happened? Not just one, but several deaths that have occurred in this way."

"Why?" Hector paused as if he was doing some very fast thinking. "I don't think that this person had a reason for doing it all, maybe they just had a slight lapse in judgement? Still, it happened a long time ago. Nothing to worry about at all, really." He smiled down at her, and Ruby had a sudden urge to shout, "You ended the lives of several people, you madman, and you call that _nothing_?"

With enormous effort, she restrained herself, and smiled back at him. "Thank you. We'll get in touch with you soon about the interview time and place, our manager will be in to see you." Ruby waved at him, and skipped out the front door, but not before she saw that Hector looked slightly worried.

While Ariel drove Ruby back to her house, Ruby avidly recounted the story at length. By now, Ariel wondered what they would do next. They would have to go back to the cemetery and get more ideas about what they were going to do next. Ariel wondered if Steve or the others had come up with any more ideas. She hoped that Hector wouldn't get wind of what was going on, and run for it.

"I'll come to the graveyard around ten." Ruby remarked, as she got out of the car.

"See you then." Ariel said, and waved until Ruby had vanished from sight.

At ten that night, Ariel waited for Ruby and the ghosts on the familiar stone seat. As she did, she wondered about the lives the ghosts may have led while they were still human. Ariel couldn't understand why anyone like Hector would want to hurt a little girl like Opal. All the charity advertisements around town said, 'Children are the future' in big bold letters. Ariel agreed. Opal would have had a future, and education, and in later life had she lived to grow up, maybe a husband and a family. In her childhood, she would have lived in a big house with a mother and father, who loved her very much. Opal would have gone to school, and had friends there too...

"Ariel!"

Ariel looked up, startled out of her daydream. Ruby was standing right beside her, as if she had been there all the time, swinging a bag from one hand.

"Look who's here." Ruby declared, moving aside to reveal the transparent glowing figures of Steve, Ransom, Annabelle and the others. "And I've got big news for all of you. ALL of you." she repeated, giggling as Opal trod playfully on her toes. Ruby fended her off, then sat on the dewy grass. The ghosts sat in a circle with her.

"So?" Queenie demanded. "How did it go with Hector? Also Chester and I have been busy. Last night, we kind of accidentally-on-purpose drifted into Nancy's dream and told her she needed to go for a holiday for two weeks with her family. We told her she needed to keep a low profile about it. Anyway." Queenie continued, "I don't know whether they believed it or not, but they were packing tonight and they're all going tomorrow, to Riverview. Get a taste of the country."

"Yes." Chester agreed, straightening his hat, and a dreamy expression coming over his face. "I have always loved the countryside myself when I lived, especially hearing the mooing of cows, and the chewing of the hay...and dressing in my wet-weather gear to venture outside to feed the hens, and–"

"Yeah Chester, we get it." interrupted Steve.

"That's good." Ariel stated, relieved. "And how on earth are you able to come into people's dreams and tell them what to do? Isn't that an invasion of privacy?"

"Not to a ghost, it isn't." Annabelle told her. "It involves some sort of other-worldly drifting experience into non-being...but never mind that, it's not important to the story."

"So, what about the 'Twenty Questions' round with Hector?" Jennie asked.

Ruby told them all about Hector, and the two questions she had asked him. When she had finished her story, the ghosts were silent, apart from Chester, who looked as if he was about to burst with indignation. "Nothing to worry about, he said? Of _course_ there is plenty to worry about, he ended the lives of six of us and stands at his front door saying otherwise! That is atrocious behaviour!"

"But to catch him, we have to be _absolutely _sure_ that we've got the right person."_ Ransom added. "Whether or not Hector Baine really is the killer is open to guessing at the moment. What should we do now?"

"Well, I do have one final bit of information that absolutely and totally may or may not let us know if we've got the right person." She reached into her bag and pulled out an old diary with a faded cover, then grinned triumphantly.

Even Steve was lost for words. Ariel contemplated this.

"How on earth did you find _that_?" Annabelle asked her, looking impressed.

"Well, I certainly did _not_ steal his personal diary out of his desk drawer on the way here when he had gone to work." Ruby replied, laughing. "It dates all the way back to 1972, when Queenie was killed, which is the earliest death out of all of them. There was SO much stuff in there. Look at this."

And to everyone's amazement, Ruby flipped the diary open and her eyes began to travel down the page. The book was open in a way so that nobody else could see what was in it. But halfway through reading, Ruby gave a huge gasp, and her eyes became slits. She looked..._like a real vampire_, Ariel thought.

"What's wrong, Ruby? What did you see?" asked Ransom, attempting to read over her shoulder.

"Look. At. This." Ruby spat. She handed Jennie the diary.

Everyone crowded around to look.

When they saw, even Chester was speechless.

A picture of Queenie had been stuck in with the heading, 'Queenie Landgraab.' There was also a photo of a younger Nancy there, too, laughing with her. Ariel seemed to recognise it from somewhere. With a jolt she realised that it was one of the photos Nancy had showed her in the Landgraab kitchen. She flicked through a few pages, not trusting herself to look at the other pages, and saw a newspaper clipping reading, 'Landgraab's death shocked neighborhood' with another photo of Queenie, this time in black and white. And, in the corner there... a lock of her hair.

"He took _hair_ from me?" Queenie gasped, horrified. "Right. As soon as we finish looking at this horrible diary, I'm calling the Union and suing him for taking a lock of my hair without my permission."

"And _look _at this page." Ruby reached forward and flicked the next page.

A rough, sketchy illustration showed a diagram of two double stoves together in Queenie's kitchen. There wasn't much detail, but it was at least enough to see what Hector's murderous plan was. It would be easy enough for him to do, Ariel thought. Turn up the heat, wait until the stove catches fire, then push a helpless, innocent person into it and make it look like a complete accident.

At the bottom, there was some barely legible writing. Ariel didn't want to read it. Looking around the circle at the ghosts, who looked shocked and outraged. Yes, even little Opal.

When everyone had finished reading, there was a silence which seemed to stretch on forever.

"So this proves it." Jennie stated. "This is definitely the man we're after. And we all know that he's not going down without a fight."

"We know." Ruby said fiercely. "But we're going to be fighting harder to bring him down. Hector Baine has just made some very powerful enemies–whether he likes it or not."


	5. Final Showdown

Just as dawn was breaking, Ariel dropped Ruby off at her house and returned home. The light of the morning was casting shadows over the houses, as the sun rose above the rooftops. For the second time, her car boot was full with the ghosts' portable gravestones. Last night, they had thought long and hard, for some reason, even enduring a rant from Chester about the unfairness of life. But by dawn, they had decided on a plan. And it would take place that evening, at Ariel's house.

She walked around the back of her house, where the graves had been hidden before, next to the swimming pool. Ariel heaved each of the from the car, placed them under the tree, and stood looking at them for a minute or so. This time, she took particular notice of their engraved symbols showing their cause of death. Opal's, Jennie's and Ransom's were a hand above water, waving for help before sinking. Annabelle's was a bolt of lightning. Queenie's was a raging fire, the grave tinged pink for the colour of the flames. Chester's was an engraved picture of a gateway. And Steve's was a picture of a knife and fork.

"Hector is going to get a big shock when he sees this." Ariel said to herself, trying to hide a smile when she imagined the horrified expression on his face.

She felt tired, all of a sudden. Not just physically, but mentally, too. Hopefully their plan would work. Just enough to give Hector a huge fright. For the rest of the day, she tried to pretend as if everything was normal. But she couldn't stop thinking about what lay ahead that evening. To take her mind off things, she phoned Esmé. Over time, they had become good friends, and got along well, despite everyone probably warning Esmé about the dangers of being friends with a 'mutant'. _Honestly,_ Ariel thought as she listened to the phone ring.

Esmé picked it up. "Hello, Lite residence."

"Hi there, it's Ariel."

"Ariel." Esmé began, sounding relieved. "I've been waiting to get in touch with you! I rang last night, but you were out."

"Oh yeah." Ariel said apologetically. "Sorry, I was out."

"That's all right. Anyway, I need to ask you something big. A favour, in a way. But not for me, for Ruby."

"OK. Shoot." Ariel wondered what it was. "I'm a bad influence on Ruby so I should stop being her friend?"

"No!" Esme said, laughing. "In fact, it's the opposite. I know that she has never really been happy, living here with me. We do get along, but...to her, I don't think that this feels like a true family to her. It bothers me that she doesn't have a proper place to call home, as I adopted her when she was very young."

"Oh." Ariel was curious. She really wanted to know more about Ruby's past, but maybe it wasn't such a good idea to talk about it over the phone. Maybe Ruby would tell her more about it in time.

Esmé was still talking. "...and I know that she would be much happier with someone she can relate to. Like you, for instance. So, I had a meeting at the town hall yesterday, we still need to get everything sorted out, but if you don't want to, I can understand."

"Hang on," said Ariel slowly. "You're asking me...if I'd like to adopt Ruby?" She could barely contain the excitement in her voice, and a feeling of happiness washed over her. "Have you talked to her about it yet?"

"I don't need to." Esmé remarked, breezily, "because I already know what she'll say."

When evening fell, Ariel decided that it was time to set off to Hector's house. She just wanted look normal, definitely no makeup there. Apart from the fact that she swapped her white dress for an ordinary pair of jeans and a T-shirt. It would help to...add to the atmosphere. Full of mystery. The scenery passed in a motion blur of dark shadows and leafy green plants. Trees towered over the road, their branches raised as if they were showing her the way.

'Hector, you are going to get a nice little surprise soon." Ariel thought as she parked the car and walked up the front door, weaving her way through the shrubs dotted here and there on the lawn.

When Hector answered the door, like everyone else, he seemed taken aback at Ariel's appearance. She silently stared him down, all the while arranging her face into a welcoming smile.

"Why are you here?" he asked looking startled, eyes widening like saucers as he took in her appearance.

"I just want to congratulate you on your fabulous interview that you did for the mausoleum survey. It really helped societies in the neighborhood." Ariel said.

"Well, thank you," Hector seemed proud of this non-existent achievement.

"My name is Ariel Moro." Ariel stuck her hand out for Hector to shake, which he did so, fearfully. She smiled inwardly. _Excellent. DNA,_ she thought.

"I'm the chairperson of the Mausoleum Society, here to educate you on the matter of all things paranormal." she added, in a businesslike manner.

"Oh, but I'm...not–" Hector managed. "I mean, I'm...not scared of, g-ghosts or anything, but–" Ariel raised an eyebrow.

"No time for that now, I'm afraid, but we need you to come to the headquarters so we can interview you further." she stated kindly. "With luck, your interview will make the front pages of the newspaper in the next day or two!"

Hector seemed to reconsider. "Yes, yes, certainly." he replied, then his face took on a slightly nervous expression. "Wait, who is 'we'? And...it won't be...in the, you know...graveyard, will it?"

"No, of _course_ not." Ariel deliberately put emphasis on the word. "And by the way," she remarked, her voice taking on an undertone, "it's rude to stare. Just so you know." She smiled at him, as he turned and left the room.

Ariel waited a couple of seconds, then silently picked up he mobile and speed dialed Ruby's number.

"He's coming now with me." Ariel said quickly. "In a few minutes we'll be at my house. When you get there, hide around the side of the house where the graves are, so he won't see you."

"Alright. I'll run there now. I'll get there before you get home, because I can move pretty fast."

Just as Ariel ended the call, Hector came back into the room, just finishing tugging his coat on. His eyes roved around the room suspiciously as he glanced at Ariel's phone. She stared innocently back at him.

"Let's get this over with." she remarked, and moved towards the door, leaving Hector staring after her with a blank expression on his face before deciding to follow her.

When the car was parked in front of Ariel's house, they both got out and stood on the front lawn. Ariel was relieved that the car journey was over. It had been awkward enough with nothing to say to each other, but the fact that she was driving with a murderer in the back seat had made it even worse. She had been tempted to drive towards the police station to see Hector's reaction, but kept the car on the road that led to her house. Hector stared around at the small house, which in the night looked shadowy and mysterious. If he had known what was around the corner, Ariel thought, he would have been out of here right there and then.

"_This_ is your headquarters?" he wondered, evidently searching for some crass remark to make about it. "It's very...um..."

Without giving anything away, Ariel's eyes flickered around to the corner of the house. She saw the familiar coloured mist rising up out of the ground, which meant that it was time. Time to give Hector a piece of her mind, and time for him to face the consequences of his actions.

"Excuse me, Hector, I must show you some paranormal objects around the side of the house, so that you can get an idea of the many bizarre things that happen out of the ordinary every day."

Hector did certainly not object to this, however the main reason was because Ariel had taken his arm in a vice-like grip, which left him helpless to do anything else.

And of course, this allowed him and Ariel to saunter around the side of the house, where the ghosts were waiting.

At first, Hector didn't seem to believe what he was seeing. Then his eyes suddenly focussed, and he took a step backwards in shock.

All the ghosts, and Ruby were standing in front of them. They slowly drifted around to form a circle around Hector. Ariel had let his arm go, and was now standing away from him, enjoying the show.

"So let's get this straight." Queenie announced, staring him down. "You thought that it was a good idea to barge into my house, light a fire accidentally on _total_ purpose, and then set me alight? Just because I had a lot of money doesn't mean that it would all be given to _you_ when I died. I mean," she huffed, "do I even know you properly? No!"

"I certainly didn't appreciate my cousin and my friends being killed just because of you." Chester added, shaking his head at Hector. "Even though I died of natural causes, I still blame my death on you. You know why? Because I wanted to get older more quickly, so I would be able to die earlier to get away from _you._"

Hector gasped in horror. He looked as if wanted to run away, but his legs seemed to be glued to the ground.

"And _what _made you think that it would be a good idea to lock me up, chain me to the wall and then watch me starve? No thanks to you, I'm _still_ hungry, and now I have to come here to find alternative food sources!" Steve growled, still watching Hector's face for any sign of terror.

Hector went as white as a sheet, and started to shake, horrified. "Do something!" he howled, pointing at Ariel.

"I _am_ doing something." Ariel remarked cheerfully. "I'm watching you get what you deserve. What fun!"

"For your information," Jennie began, drawing Hector's attention back to the blue woman dripping with water, "three out of seven of us have been killed by drownings. Because of you, our lives have been ruined by _you! _And you wouldn't know the truth if it danced right in front of you!" she snarled.

"Jennie, Opal and I definitely agree." Ransom stated.

"And after all," Opal said, "children like me are the future, aren't they? Thankfully, you said you would give that charity all your savings so they could build a better place for us, didn't you? And no, I don't mean a new graveyard...although that would be nice, too."

Hector was now beside himself with terror.

"So you need to get out of here." Annabelle commented casually. "Find yourself a better repair specialist, get yourself a new power box and go somewhere far, far away from here. Otherwise, we'll just have to hunt you down...well, Ruby will, anyway."

As she spoke, Ruby edged around the group, and stood in front of Hector, looking up at him. Her eyes were bright, and she looked like she was having the time of her life.

"So here's what's going to happen next." Ruby said quietly. "I am a vampire, and my dad is the king of all the vampires. He's SO angry with you. And you may not know that vampires that come from Sunset Valley are the most vicious and dangerous of all the vampires. So if you don't get out of here right now, I will sneak into your bedroom at the middle of the night and bite your face off. You don't want _that_ to happen, do you?"

"No...no." Hector stuttered, taking another step backwards and nearly tripping over Ariel, who was standing right behind him.

"Good." Ruby snapped. "I'm so glad we had this little talk. And now I have to go back to my coffin, because it will be morning soon, and the light will be _burning my eyes out!_"

Hector took another step back, looking fearfully at all the faces of the ghosts, before collapsing into a dead faint.

For a few seconds, everyone looked at him. Then...

"Poor Hector." said Queenie with mock concern, prodding him with her foot. "I'll always feel sorry for him. He just didn't know what hit him, and now he's fallen over in despair, begging for our forgiveness."

Everyone cracked up laughing.

Nothing much was heard from Hector Baine, after that. The rumor was that he had packed his bags, and moved away into Riverview, finding the most quiet secluded place to live. Which was, obviously, right away from the cemetery. People didn't really know if he'd disappeared or just moved away. They didn't suspect a thing.

And they didn't look twice at Ariel or Ruby.

Which was good.

The day after Hector vanished, the Langraabs came back from the country. Nancy still thought about Queenie a lot, and for some reason, found herself thinking about the day that Ariel came to visit. It seemed to have changed her own life, in a small insignificant way. Nancy went to Queenie's grave, which had been replaced temporarily back at the cemetery with the others, and sat there for a little while. The cemetery looked peaceful, as though there was a shield around it from all the hurt and pain it had caused others.

Nancy didn't know what caused her to look downwards, but she did. Then she saw that a small orange quartz had been laid out at the bottom of the stone, with only two words engraved:

'_Thank you.'_

Looking around, Nancy wondered if Ariel had been right about Queenie. Maybe Queenie had changed a bit, or maybe Ariel simply saw things differently from others.

Whatever...

There was a small party at Ariel's house that night. All the ghosts were there along with Ruby. And this time, without their graves. It seemed that there was a lot they needed to think about, besides the fact that there would be no more murders committed by Hector Baine.

The table was literally groaning under dishes of Ariel's excellent cooking. It would give Steve the most satisfaction, Ariel thought, seeing that he was hungry all the time.

"Since we have all eaten our fill, I would like to say something." Chester announced, glancing at Steve. "To an amazing young woman who has achieved, well...many things. Including letting us inside her house to raid her fridge and sleep."

Everyone laughed.

"So, what we really wanted to know, was..." Jennie said, looking at Ariel.

"We don't want to go back to the graveyard."

Ariel was stunned. "But, where are you going to go?"

"We all talked it over and we decided that we want to, like, stay here. With you." Queenie said.

Ariel nodded, still astounded.

"The graveyard doesn't feel like home to us. It never has and it never will. There's nowhere to go, or sleep or eat. Some others there are irritating, and you can't hide from them. And it's always cold there, too." Annabelle added quietly.

For the first time, Ariel felt as if there was some sort of purpose to her life. Then she nodded, yes.

"But, what are you going to do about your gravestones? What if people come to see you and there's no gravestone there?" Ariel could only imagine the uproar this would cause.

"Then, use the rocks you gave us. Because they are the same colour and element like sort of what we are, they might be able to hold us for a few days." Annabelle held her yellow quartz up, a twinkle in her eye. "Or we could drift across the city and visit you that way."

"I'm going to be moving soon, anyway. I'm not going to stay in this house, because there are too many memories. Some I don't want to remember again." Ariel added. "And you can all come with me, we'll figure it out. Plenty of food and beds for all of you."

All the ghosts laughed and started clapping, as if it was an award ceremony of some sort. Well maybe it was.

"As well as that, Ruby." Ariel continued, looking at the small vampire standing beside her. "Esme asked me if...you want to come and live with me."

All eyes were on Ruby now as she processed this new piece of news.

Finally she whispered, "Are you serious?"

"Of course I'm serious!" Ariel cried. "Esme could tell that you weren't happy, so she decided to ask me if–"

Ruby hurled herself at Ariel and hugged her as hard as she could. Ariel returned it, while wondering whether to laugh or cry. Opal, Jennie, Queenie, Annabelle and even Ransom, Steve and Chester came up and joined them. Ariel had never thought that a day, or night, would come when she was the victim of a group hug. Maybe everything would be sorted out in the end.

Ariel looked up at the sky and saw the sun's rays starting to break through the clouds. The clouds were tinged with gold, and as the light hit them, they seemed to light the whole sky on fire. One by one, with a final wave, the ghosts disappeared into mist and swirled back into the earth where the graves were. Chester was the last to leave. He straightened his hat and winked at the two of them, before flinging himself into his gravestone.

"We're very lucky." said Ruby quietly, watching as the sky slowly turned from golden to blue.

"I know." Ariel said, looking too.

They were all safe.

For now.


End file.
